With the advent of solid state lighting solutions, e.g. LEDs, a trend towards generating dynamic lighting effects has emerged in order to increase the appeal of such lighting effects. For example, WO 2012/113036 A1 discloses a system for providing illumination. The system comprises a source of electromagnetic radiation, a user interface that is able to be moved such that a position of the user interface is able to be specified by a value of at least one coordinate of a coordinate system, wherein each coordinate of the coordinate system is associated with a respective property of electromagnetic radiation outputted from the source and a controller for controlling each property of the electromagnetic radiation according to the position of the interface. The user interface comprises a hollow sphere formed of a transmissive and an opaque hemisphere. By rolling the hollow sphere over an array of LEDs, the area of the transmissive hemisphere through which light can escape can be configured relative to the array, thereby creating a dynamic light effect.
Another type of luminaire capable of producing a configurable (dynamic) lighting effect is a spotlight, i.e. a luminaire adapted to project a shaped bundle of light, i.e. a light output such as one or more light spots or an image, onto a chosen location, e.g. a wall, floor or ceiling surface region to highlight the chosen region. Embodiments of such luminaires capable of altering the location of such a light output in response to a user instruction are known per se. For example, such luminaires may comprise mechanically adjustable optical guiding members, e.g. actuated mirrors, lenses or the like, to change the location of the light output in response to such a user instruction, or may comprise an array of individually addressable solid state lighting (SSL) elements arranged to direct their luminous output in different directions, e.g. by guiding the luminous outputs of the respective SSL elements through one or more optical elements, e.g. collimators, lenses or the like, such that a light output in a particular location may be created by enabling the subset of the SSL elements arranged to direct their luminous outputs at the particular location.
Such luminaires facilitate the creation of dynamic user light effects, for example by a user specifying on a user interface device in communication with the luminaire how the light output should be redirected from its current location to a new location. In this manner, the user for example may wish to highlight another feature, e.g. a new feature such as a decoration, painting or the like, and redirect the light output to this new feature. For example, as schematically depicted in FIG. 1, a user may use a user interface device 10, e.g. a portable device comprising a user interface 20 such as a touchscreen, which user interface device may be controlled through a master button 11 and may further include a camera 15 amongst other components as is well-known per se. The user interface device 20 may be adapted to execute a program such as an app designed to direct the location of a light output 60 produced by a controllable luminaire to or across a surface region 61, for example by moving an icon 21 or the like on the user interface 20 in a direction indicative of the desired direction in which the light output 60 should be repositioned, e.g. by swiping or the like, with the icon 21 represents a current location of the light output 60.
Patent applictaion US 20150084514 A1 relates to techniques and user interfaces for controlling a solid-state luminaire having an electronically adjustable light beam distribution. The user interface may be configured, in accordance with some embodiments, to provide a user with the ability to control, by wireless and/or wired connection, the light distribution of an associated solid-state luminaire in a given space. The user interface device may include a position and/or motion sensor configured to aid in determining the orientation and/or movement of the device with respect to the luminaire.